At 12:04 am, December 15, a K9832 train loaded with passengers arrived at Yuxi Railway Station. With an average speed of 200 kilometres per hour, the train’s arrival marked the official operation of the China-Laos Railway’s Kunming-Yuxi section, as well as the opening of the newly-built Yuxi Station.

After six years of construction, this 88-kilometre, double-line electrified railway from Kunming to Yuxi will be shared by both the China-Laos Railway and the China-Vietnam Railway.

Besides the current trial runs, bullet trains will also run between Kunming and Yuxi soon. By then, the 1.5-hour economic and traffic circle in central Yunnan will fully take shape.

With opening of this section, the Kunming-Yuxi-Hekou stretch is fully electrified, largely reducing travel times and improving transport capacity. The railway will be conducive to deepened cooperation and development between the three state-level economic development zones in Kunming, Mengzi and Hekou. It will form part of the national railway network, and promote regional connectivity between the western Yangtze River corridor, the Pearl River Delta and the Beibu Gulf. It will also serve as a part of the international railway network which links China, Laos, Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries.